"M'lady Camalon?" The voice carried through the corridors of the luxurious home, finally reaching a bedroom on the third floor. "We haven't much time, M'lady. If we're going to get you to the transport in time we must be going." It was the voice of Amelia, the Camalon's in-home aide. She was middle aged, with dark brown hair and light blue eyes. Amelia slowly made her way up the stairs, and down the corridor, pausing to straighten a rare painting that hung on the wall. She smiled softly, and then continued on down the hall until she stopped outside the bedroom and knocked lightly on the door jam.

The bedroom was ornately decorated, rich fabrics and warm natural wood throughout. Sitting atop of the bed in the center of the room were three matching suit cases. Two of them were closed and secured, while the third was overflowing as the young girl was kneeling on top of it trying to force it shut.

"M'lady." Amelia spoke, trying her best to not show the amusement she felt at the sight. "Climb down from there before you break your neck."

She walked into the room and opened the suitcase, taking out some of the items and then rearranging them into a more efficient layout before she closed the case and turned to look down at the young girl. Her name was Brakken Camalon, and she was the daughter of two very influential members of the House Cadriaan in the Tapani Sector. Her blond hair was ornately wrapped and pinned up off of her shoulders, bangs cascaded down the right side of her face, covering up one of her teal colored eyes.

"There. All better. Now, M'lady, do you really think you need all of this stuff?"

Brakken glanced at her suitcases, then looked back up at Amelia, her eyes narrowing slightly. "But Kristanna from Kuat had three bags last year and I only had two and she made fun of me." she spoke, crossing her slender arms over her chest, wearing a comically resolute expression on her face.

Amelia couldn't stifle the giggle this time, and to cover it up she reached over and picked up the first to cases by their handles. "Well I don't know how in the void you're going to manage to lug these around but if you insist, M'lady. Let's get going."

Brakken paused to glance at the full length mirror, making sure that she was presentable. Her mother would never let her hear the end of it if she left the house with some sort of visible flaw. Today she wore a mid-length crimson dress of traditional Tapani cut. Satisfied with her appearance, Brakken turned and hefted the final case off of the bed and nodded her head confidently. "I'm ready." She said before taking off down the hall, dragging the case along the rich wooden floor behind her.

~~~~~~~

It was a short trip via one of the Camalon's personal air-speeders to Gilliana's primary spaceport. They were granted access to the private level several stories above the point where the general public entered the spaceport. Amelia parked the speeder and walked with Brakken to the Security Checkpoint. "Here are your travel papers, M'lady." Amelia knelt down and handed Brakken the papers before pulling the young girl into a tight hug. "You're parents wanted to be here to see you off themselves but--"

"But something came up." Brakken finished her sentence for her, hugging her nanny and caretaker fiercely. "I know the drill."

"Sure you do, Tesoro. Now you be safe out there and do your best ok?"

"Amelia, I'm ten years old now..." Brakken whined. "In a couple of years I'll be moving up from the LYP and becoming an Apprentice Legislator! I'll be Fine."

Amelia smiled faintly, tears welling up in her eyes as she realized not for the first time just how grown up her little Braken was becoming. "Well you sure showed me, M'lady." She squeezed Brakken one last time before letting go and standing back up. One of the Spaceport Attendants was on his way over. "I'll be waiting here for you when you get back, Tesoro."

"K, Take care!" Brakken exclaimed, before turning around and handing her papers over to the Attendant. He scanned the documents, checking her into the manifest and confirming her reservations on the transport, then beckoned over a service droid. The droid was a regal blue in color and rolled rapidly across the floor on a pair of treads. It stopped next to her luggage and scooped the suitcases up onto the flat sled that made up most of its chassis, before scurrying off for the cargo portion of the craft. The Attendant handed the papers back to Brakken and tilted his hat slightly.

"Is there anything I can do for you, M'lady, before you board?" He asked respectfully.

Brakken shook her head slightly as she tucked her papers into the clutch she held in her right hand. "No thank you." she replied, before she started forward... She only made it a handful of steps before she paused, and looked up at the massive transport waiting at the end of the walkway. A slow smile crawled its way across her face and she turned back towards the Attendant. "Actually... Could you tell me what kind of starship this is?" She asked curiously.

The Attendant quirked an eyebrow at the question he obviously hadn't expected the young girl to ask, before he smiled slightly and nodded. "Ofcourse, M'lady. The Majestic is a Botajef AA-9 S Liner." He answered.

Brakken chewed at her lip slightly and blinked her teal eyes up at the Attendant. "A friend of mine from Naboo told me that one time, the Captain let her ride in the cockpit and fly the ship..." She paused slightly, then smiled excitedly. "Do you know the Captain of the Majestic? Do you think he'd let me do that too?!"

The Attendant was completely perplexed now. He'd never heard such a thing before. "I'll ask around for you, M'lady."

~~~~~~~

An hour later Brakken had made herself at home in the semi-private lounge that her ticket awarded her, near the very top of the 1300 meter long transport craft. She was stretched out atop a fine nerf hide upholstered sofa, a flute of Jaffa Cider held lazily in one hand. The luxury lounge was filled up with other well-to-do citizens, some on there way places to do business, others probably off for a hardly needed vacation. Brakken would have loved to speak with them, and to learn their stories. But, unfortunately the sorts of people that occupied the same lounges that she and her parents did, were rarely ever interested in conversating with others. It was even rarer that they would bother to give a kid any of their attention.

Brakken sighed softly, setting the flute down on the table in front of her before pulling out the papers that Amelia had given her again. It was going to be a long trip, and she might as well start preparing. Because once she arrived to Hanna City on Chandrilla, the vacation was over. Because this month was the annual meeting of the Youth Legislative Program. All the members of the YLP from across the known galaxy were making their way to Chandrilla just like she was, and once they'd gathered there they would set up a simulated Imperial Senate and flex their political muscles and minds for a grueling three weeks of delegations. It was what Brakken lived for, and the little girl couldn't be more excited to be back on Chandrilla and to see all her friends again...

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

The luxury liner had made stops at a couple of planets since they'd departed from Gilliana, and Brakken impatiently checked the itinerary. The young girl was relieved to see that the next stop was indeed Chandrilla. She shut down the public terminal she was using, and walked down the corridor towards her private quarters. Today she wore a simple ensemble, dark comfortable pants and a shirt, with a travelers shawl over her shoulders.

As she walked, Brakken giggled slightly to herself, playing a little game where she could only step on certain parts of the patterned carpet. She paid no mind to the grumblings of the elitist passengers as she bounced in and out of their paths. Brakken had just reached the door to her quarters when she saw an Attendant approaching out of the corner of her teal colored eye. She hurriedly fumbled for her key card, wondering if someone had complained about her behavior.

"M'lady Camalon?" The Attendant asked, and Brakken sighed, pulling the keycard out of its slot and slowly turning to face the Twi'lek.

"M'lady, I come bearing an invitation from Captain Murdoch." The Twi'lek spoke again, adjusting one of his green Lekku. "He's offered for you to join him up in the cockpit."

She could have fainted. Could it really be true? "Yes!" She shrieked.

The Twi'lek chuckled a bit at her excitement and then stepped back and motioned with his arm, directing her towards the lift that would take them to the uppermost decks of the craft...

~~~~~~~~~

"Spaceport Control, this is the Majestic requesting clearance to depart." Brakken spoke into the headset that was clearly too large for her. Her smile was a mile wide and her teal eyes were brighter than the systems star as she sat in the co-pilots chair, glancing over towards the Captain to make sure she'd said it all correctly. The gray haired Captain Murdoch nodded his head slightly in approval before the Spaceport Control dispatch replied.

"Majestic, port control here, you sound a little different than you did when you arrived." The dispatcher's voice carried with it enough good humor that the static present in the headset couldn't drown out the fact that they were only joking.

"That's true, control. Captain Murdoch here, we're just doing some basic instruction for an eager pilot in training here. Honorary Captain Camalon will be navigating us to our jump point this afternoon." The Captain spoke up, offering Brakken a quick wink.

"Very well, Captain Camalon, then, you are cleared for disembarkation. Best of luck on your journey."

Brakken nodded quickly and beamed another galaxy-spanning smile his way. Murdoch then explained to her what each of the primary controls did, then instructed her to watch what he did and to mimic it on her side of the cockpit. Together, they disengaged the docking clamps and backed the large craft away from the station. When they had drifted an acceptable distance away, they shifted directions to point out towards space and applied throttle to get the ship under way.

Always a quick study, Brakken was no longer watching Captain Murdoch's every move, and instead was focusing on the readouts in front of her as she kept a loose grip on the steering yoke of the craft. If she was reading the charts right, they were quickly nearing the edge of the planets gravity well where they would be able to engage the hyperdrive to head for Chandrilla. Without taking her eyes off the controls, Brakken addressed Captain Murdoch.

"Next time can I fly all by myself?" She asked bravely. She heard the Captain and some of the nearby crew members chuckle slightly and turned to face Murdoch with a questioning expression on her young face.

"You already are, M'lady." He replied, holding his hands up in the air to accentuate the statement.

Brakken's teal eyes widened to the size of planets and she quickly turned back to the controls as her pulse skipped a beat. "Why didn't you say something!?" She yelped nervously, biting on her lip as a small level of nervousness slowly started to creep into her.

"Well you were doing so well over there I just didn't want to disturb you." The Captain replied with a smile. A handful of moments later and they were in place and the coordinates for the next jump had been uploaded into the computer. "Alright, Captain Camalon, are you ready to tell the passengers that we're leaving the system?" He asked her.

"I... I don't know if I can do that Ca--"

The Captain had already keyed on the PA and started to make the announcement. "Ladies and Gentlebeings aboard the Majestic, Your temporary honorary Co-Captain, M'lady Brakken Camalon of the Tapani Sector has an announcement to make." He spoke, then switched the microphone to her headset and motioned for her to go ahead. "Just like you've heard me do before." he added reassuringly.

Brakken gulped a bit, but nodded her head. She was a member of the YLP. She spoke in front of her peers all the time. She could do this easily. She cleared her throat quietly and got to it. "This is Captain Camalon, It is 1520 Galactic Standard Time, and we will be entering Hyperspace shortly for the Chandrilla System. On behalf of myself and the entire crew of the Majestic I'd like to request that all passengers please settle in and buckle up for the jump to hyperspace. The seatbelt sign will be deactivated once we have made the jump and you will once again be free to move about the ship. Thank you." She keyed off the mic and sighed heavily, slumping down in the seat a bit.

"Ah ah ah, but you aren't done yet, M'lady." The Captain chided her, and then leaned over to show her the controls to activate the Hyperdrive. "When the timer hit's zero, press this button and pull back on those two levers." He explained with a wink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exhausted from the exciting but stressful opportunity and dream she had just fulfilled, Brakken found her way back to her quarters, sporting an Honorary Captains Insignia pinned to the front of her shirt. She entered the cabin and ran forward, diving into the plush bed and squealing with delight into the pillow. Brakken then rolled over onto her back and yawned, blinking up at the ceiling. She just couldn't wait to shove this in Kristanna's face.

It would be another two days worth of travel before they reached Chandrilla, and even though it was only late afternoon, the young future diplomat was tired. She yawned again, then rolled out of bed and changed into a pair of pajamas before slowly crawling underneath the covers and pulling them up over her head. Her teal eyes slowly closed as she curled up comfortably in the bed and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

“Ladies and Gentlebeings, it is my pleasure to announce to you on behalf of the entire crew of the Majestic, that we have just entered the Chandrila System and will be touching down in Hanna City shortly.”

That was Captain Murdoch’s voice! They were finally there! Oh no, we’re here! Brakken thought to herself suddenly before scrambling out of her bed and running to her luggage. She had to get out of these crummy travel clothes and make herself presentable. She’d never live it down if she showed up to the spaceport like this.

Thankfully she’d packed very carefully and had just the outfit for her arrival in the capital city. Thirty standard minutes later Brakken was showered, dressed, and prepped. Her hair was tied up with a deep crimson ribbon and bow, and she wore a matching gown. The young girl then set about gathering her belongings and stowing them all away in her luggage.

When she was satisfied that she was leaving nothing behind, she scheduled a pickup for her baggage with an Attendant over the comm, and then dashed out of her room. Her favorite part of the trip was coming up and she’d die if she missed it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brakken had made it to her destination with plenty of time to spare. She was surprised, as she always was, that there weren’t more beings up on the observation deck. It seemed not very many beings shared her passion for being able to witness the landing of the starship. The little girl shrugged and settled in for the descent, her nose all but touching the transperisteel.

As always, it went by far too quickly. The transperisteel dome darkened for re-entry to the atmosphere and then returned to normal, awarding Brakken with a breathtaking view of the greens and blues of Chandrila. The approach into Hanna City brought the Majestic in overtop of the famed Silver Sea and she strained her eyesight in hopes of catching sight of some of the massive aquatic lifeforms that were said to spring up from its depths periodically.

Before she knew it, it was over. The ship slowed to a crawl, entering into the airtraffic in the skies of the capitol city and making its way towards Hanna’s spaceport. She sighed softly, wishing that they could simply spend the day flying about the lush agricultural world’s skies taking in the beautiful sights… But that wasn’t possible. She was here for a reason, after all, and it was certainly not sightseeing.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“But… But… How am I going to carry all of these by myself?!” Brakken called out at the retreating back of one of the Majestic’s Attendants. The man had just dropped her baggage off on the walkway next to her and informed her that he had to return to the ship and that he could not possibly accompany her to her next destination. “For Empire’s Sake…” She mumbled under her breath, before anxiously looking left and right to see if anyone had heard her utter such an expression. Safe for the time being, the young girl heaved a hefty sigh as she looked down at her three stuffed suitcases.

Amelia was right.

There was no other option, the pedestrian traffic here in Hanna City waited for no one, and she certainly couldn’t catch anyone’s attention long enough to ask them to help her out. The group of angry sounding beings that were walking around holding signs and handing out pamphlets wasn’t helping anything either. She wondered what they were so upset about, and why everyone seemed so intent to ignore or avoid them. Throwing a shoulder strap over her neck, Brakken bent down to take a hold of the handles of the other two cases and began to push, pull, lunge, and drag the cases away from the terminal and towards the area where the majority of the beings were walking.

Twice she was stopped by an Imperial Officer, flanked by a pair of intimidating Storm Troopers and asked to show her papers. Security sure is tight, here. She observed to herself silently. She also took note that the Imperials seemed to not show any sign of intending to honor her status as a member of House Cadriaan. Brutes. She added mentally for good measure.

There! Finally, she’d located the small sign that designated an area off to the side of the spaceport arrival’s section that was set apart for the incoming members of the Legislative Youth Program. From this distance, she couldn’t really make out any faces but there did seem to be a handful of children gathered there. With a deep breath, she gathered up her strength and once again set off at a slow crawl, fighting the luggage all the way there.

When she’d closed the distance to a meter or so, one of the chaperone’s noticed her struggling and headed out to help, taking hold of the two bags she was dragging and carrying them over to the collection of luggage from the other kids. “Goodness, looks like you could use a hand.” The young woman said with a smile, helping Brakken get the third bag up and over her head without messing up her hair or gown.

“Thank you so much.” Brakken said, and had her mouth open to say more when an all too familiar voice spoke up from behind her.

“Leave it to Brakken Camalon to bring more bags than she can carry.” Kristanna sneered. “What’s wrong, don’t you have a service droid to help you out?” She asked, pointing towards a gleaming silver droid that stood near her. “No I wouldn’t figure you would, poser.”

Color rose to Brakken’s cheeks as her teal eyes glanced downwards away from Kristanna. She’s here already? Well fine, two people can play this game. “Maybe I don’t have a servant droid, but I got to pilot the passenger transport on the way here. And I got to activate its hyperdrive.” She replied hotly, intending to finally put Kristanna in her place.

To her dismay, black haired bully just laughed. Her icy blue eyes cold with spite. “A Passenger Transport ? Don’t tell me you came here on a chartered flight… You.. You did, didn’t you? Oh Honey you should have mentioned something, I’m sure my dad wouldn’t have minded having out private yacht swing by that crummy sector of yours to pick you up.”

Brakken’s hands clenched up into fists and she gritted her teeth together in anger as her face flushed with embarrassment. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t have a comeback and Kristanna was going to win again!

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

If there was one thing Felicity hated more than nobles it was nobles who thought they were better than everyone (which, oddly enough, included most of them). As per usual she was hanging around by the outskirts of the group trying to avoid everyone and everything so when the young Brakken Camalon was being bullied by Kristanna she was one of the first to notice. Quietly she edged over to some of the other youngsters and nudged one of them.

"Hey, I need you guys to follow me," she whispered to them.

The boy she nudged just looked at her, his expression somewhere between surprise and fear. "What? Why?! What did I do?!"

"Just shut up and follow me or I'll clobber the lot of you," Felicity snapped and the three boys just nodded and fell into line.

Felicity led them over to Kristanna and Brakken, arriving just in time to hear the remark the older girl had made about her home, the Tapani Sector. That made Felicity's blood boil. "Why don't you shut up, Kristanna, and leave the poor girl alone?"

Kristanna just looked at her in surprise then to Felicity's dismay she started laughing. "Or what? The palmtop tiger and her squad of goons are going to pummel me?"

Felicity just ignored that remark and crossed her arms, staring daggers at Kristanna. The older girl stared back at her as confidently as she could manage but when she started to realize that Felicity had intended to do exactly what she had stated she started to lose her nerve. "Fine whatever, she's not worth it anyway," Kristanna said finally then she and her two friends turned and left.

Felicity had waited until they were gone before she turned to the three boys behind her. "Alright, I'm done with you guys now scram."

The boys hurried away as fast as they could and Felicity finally turned her attention to Brakken. "You alright," she asked but her tone and her expression seemed deceptively uncaring. Wordlessly the girl nodded.

"Good," Felicity replied, "I can't stand that Kristanna. I really should have pummeled her instead of letting her go, but I promised my dad I wouldn't fight on this trip."

Brakken stood still and silent for another handful of moments before she finally dragged her teal eyed gaze up from the ground between her feet. She slipped a strand of blond hair back behind her ear subconsciously as she looked over the shorter noble in front of her. Felicity, of House Calipsa. Though the pair shared the same home sector, Brakken knew very little about Felicity. She realized with no small amount of guilt that she let Felicity’s reputation as a rebel influence her and had until now purposefully avoided the Tapani native.

That wasn’t right of me at all. Brakken thought solemnly. At least the Vallière’s are of noble blood and ancestry. She thought to herself. The Camalon family’s roots traced back to Rathe Camalon Sr. a commoner from the Freeworlds Region who managed to buy his way into nobility. Brakken frowned slightly at the thought, not wanting to dwell on such things right now. She made a mistake and had mis-judged Felicity… But it wasn’t too late to make it right.

“Thank you for standing up to her.” Brakken spoke softly, her eyes darting off to glance in the direction Kristanna and her friends had gone before returning back to focus on Felicity. “Did you arrive on the Majestic too?”

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

Brakken scrunched her eyebrows for a moment as she shifted from one foot to the other thinking back to the last trip to Chandrilla... Then it hit her and her teal eyes buldged a bit and she fought to hold back a giggle. Maybe being a rebel wasn't such a bad thing after all... Brakken thought to herself as she regarded the young noble girl.

"You mean... that bit with the fountain... That was you?!" She asked in amazement. "The deckhands were busy cleaning that up for two whole days."

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

A hand darted in front of her sharp green eyes, automatically making her gaze snap up from the ground to Ruell's very unamused expression. Tartly, the woman asked, "Terrya, were you even paying attention?" She crossed her arms, scowled down at the girl, and continued, "Of course you weren't. How are you ever going to learn if you don't pay attention? This entire trip will have been for nothing unless you get your head out of the clouds and do what I say!"

The twelve-year-old grimaced inwardly. Apparently, no, Ruell wasn't going to shut up. Her only hope was to make Ruell happy, at least for a few minutes. Terrya put on her most convincing smile and replied, "But I-I am paying attention, promise! I was just, uh...looking at the pattern on the floor and wondering if it signified something about Chandrilla!"

A tight smile flitted across the older woman's face. "Indeed. In that case, Miss Preh, you'll be able to walk up to some of the other children here and put what I just told you to do into practice." She pointed at two girls standing several yards away, apparently talking. "Them. Go talk to them. Establish a rapport with them, then learn what systems they're from, how they got here, and why they came."

"Go on!" Ruell snapped sharply. "No arguments, young lady! Your father told me that I was your ultimate authority while you're off-planet, and you will obey me!"

The girl’s shoulders slumped. Great, Ruell was using that tone. No way she was getting’ out of this. “Yes, ma’am.” Terrya turned away from her and started walking towards the two girls Ruell had indicated, inadvertently dragging her feet the whole way. Why had her dad made her go with this tyrannical lady, anyway? She wanted to be a spy for the Empire or a criminal organization when she grew up, not some stuffy politician! Right now, she could be back on Borleias, hunting some animals with Sileg, but noooo—Ruell just had to teach her all about law and politics and a bunch of other things Terrya just didn’t care about. As far as this task she’d been assigned…she wasn’t too keen on introducing herself to other kids. Playtime for her was a nice, long sparring session with her trainers. Every other kid she’d met started acting all high-and-mighty when she mentioned that, as if they were somehow better than her ‘cuz they were into musty datapads full of books instead of swords and knives. And, unfortunately, she’d never been able to goad one into throwing a punch at her, so she’d never even been able to shut any of ‘em up with a quick beating. Ugh, life was so unfair!

Well, this was it. She was only a few feet away behind the two girls now, and she had two choices: speak up, or face more lectures from Ruell. The former was quite as bad as the latter, so she had to say something. She waited a few moments until the conversation between them paused, unconsciously twiddling with the ends of a handful of her formally styled, shoulder-length red hair. Tentatively, she said, “Uhh…hi. I’m Terrya.” The girl decided to plunge on and scowled as she continued, “Sorry to interrupt—my stupid teacher told me to come over here and butt in.”

Brakken's mention of the fountain made Felicity smile with remembrance. Before she could respond, though, another girl suddenly appeared and interrupted them. "My stupid teacher told me to come over here and butt in," she was saying and Felicity couldn't help but return the scowl she was making.

"Then tell your 'stupid teacher' to mind her own business," she replied tartly, "Honestly, if you don't want to do something just say no. What are they going to do, lecture you for a few hours? I've been lectured before it's not that bad."

Terrya's scowl deepened further. She placed her hands on her hips and snapped in reply, "I've been getting lectures for three solid months! I'm beginning to think my teacher doesn't need to stop talking long enough to breath between lectures! If I tell her no, she'll just call my father, and I'll get grounded for six months when I get home! Do you know how much six months with no practice can hurt my techinque? I'll have to work another year just to make sure I haven't lost anything!" The girl forced herself to calm down and took a deep breath. "Okay, sorry I blew up. Hope she's satisfied with my just talking to you for thirty seconds. Sorry again i interrupted you." She turned away and started walking back towards Ruell.

Felicity had half a mind to let her go but when she glanced up and saw the angry scowl on the woman's face who was apparently waiting for Terrya she decided she just couldn't let that stand. "'Scuse me," she said pushing past Terrya and making a bee line straight towards Ruell.

"I suppose you have something to say," the woman said when Felicity came to a stop about a foot away from her.

The tiny girl just waved her finger at her in a gesture telling her to come closer. Not sure what to expect Ruell leaned forward and Felicity whispered something into her ear. A moment later the woman's expression blanched and she straightened up in shock. "My word," she exclaimed, "I should call your father about this!"

"Go ahead," Felicity replied with a shrug, "Not like he can do anything about it."

"Why I never," Ruell replied in exasperation and then she turned and stormed off, presumably in search of a holonet terminal.

Felicity then turned back to look at the surprised Terrya standing behind her. "So whaddya say we start over, hmm? My name's Felicity de La Valliere and this is Brakken Camalon, we're both from Tapani. Now it's your turn."

Terrya froze for a few seconds. Had...had that girl just made Ruell storm away? She'd never seen Ruell storm away! For a few moments, she wondered what the kid had said...and then she decided she didn't really want to know. Whatever it was, if she used it herself, she'd probably get grounded for a year instead of just six months. Finally, she stammered, "I, uh...I'm Terrya Preh--from Borleias." She folded her hands behind her back and shifted her weight onto her right leg uncertainly. "Umm...thanks for...that. You probably just saved me from at least two days of lectures."

Terrya unconsciously formed her left hand into a fist and bounced it against the side of her leg nervously. "She wanted me to, uh...mine you two for information. I think she wanted me to have some sort of edge over you in the LYP thing..." She frowned slightly. "If you're in the LYP thing instead of just being here on a vacation, that is."

Brakken had kept silent for most of the encounter. She certainly hadn't approved of the interruption and the breach of ettiqute that it showed, but Felicity had more than taken care of the situation. Then as Terrya had started to shuffle back towards her handler, Brakken had felt a pull on her heartstrings and was about to call the young girl back to see if they could help her out. Of course she should have expected Felicity to charge in headfirst by now.

The young girl listened on as Terrya explained what her mentor's purpose had been before her eyebrows raised slightly and she finally spoke to the girl. "You're new here, right? I mean to the Program?"

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

Dalla Sarpan stepped out of the airspeeder. The personal yacht of her father - Erran Sarpan, a wealthy banker seeking greater influence for his family - had just unloaded her 30 minutes earlier. After reassuring her, he had left on business to Coruscant, leaving Dalla alone with her droid servant and bodyguard, A113-C2 (called AC or A-See in daily speech).

Dalla belonged to an influential Cortinan family, House Sarpan, and had been groomed as her father's successor since her birth. She was not quite as haughty as one might expect, largely thanks to her mother, Sirra. Dalla had been part of the Legislative Youth Program since her eighth birthday, and knew several of the other members well. There was one in particular she couldn't wait to see.

Dalla, dressed in a white dress and with her hair curled up as usual, spotted a group of three girls, but she couldn't tell who they were.

"AC, do you see Brakken in that group?"

AC zoomed in, its quad photoreceptors aimed at the group.

"I do, Lady Dalla."
"Good." Dalla immediately started towards the group, followed closely by AC who was carrying her three bags with ease.

AC was quite a sight, as he walked behind Dalla. AC was an old A-series droid from the Clone Wars, but now served House Sarpan. Where Erran Sarpan had found the droid was unknown, but had never failed its duties.

As soon as Dalla was within hearing distance, she raised an arm and waved to Brakken.

Brakken was in the middle of explaining to Terrya how she could tell that she was new, and imparting some sincere and well meant advice on what to expect and how to go about things when she heard her name being called from somewhere behind her. Turning around sharply her eyes scanned the nearby crowd until she saw Dalla Sarpan heading their way and waving her hand slightly.

The sight of AC shuffling along behind her brought an easy smile to Brakkens face and the young girl waved back slightly. She wanted to run out and greet Dalla halfway but knew it would be disrespectful to Felicity and Terrya, so instead she waited until the other young girl closed the distance to their small group.

"Dalla! How was your trip? Do you know Felicity? This is Terrya, she's new this year!"

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

"Same as every year, not that exciting, really. Father took me here in his yacht." She looked at Felicity, then nodded in greeting, a smile on her face. "I believe we met last year." She turned to Terrya. "Pleased to meet you."

Suddenly, she blushed.

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt your conversation? My apologies."

Behind her, AC carefully put the bags down and stretched to its full 3 meters, its blue photoreceptors scanning the area and the people opposite Dalla.

Felicity shifted uneasily between Brakken and Terrya. She was uncomfortable around crowds and though she could tolerate Terrya's presence the addition of Dalla meant the group had gotten bigger than she was used to. Not to mention the fact that Dalla was well aware of some of her more outrageous antics and though she never said anything about them openly Felicity wasn't sure how she felt about them. Most people just avoided her because she was trouble which suited Felicity just fine, but it also meant that she didn't have very many friends, if any friends at all.

"I have to go," she said suddenly, interrupting the two as they talked. They both looked at her in surprise and she shifted uneasily underneath their gaze. "There's something I remembered I have to do," she said quickly in answer to the silent stares. Then she spun away and quickly retreated into the crowd of young politicians before any of them could say anything.

Dalla's eyes followed Felicity as she went. Then she turned to Brakken, eyes still on the retreating Felicity.

"I didn't mean to chase her away. My apologies."

Dalla actually liked Felicity, but had failed to cultivate a relationship with her the year before, because she wasn't sure how her father would feel about it. In the past year, however, he had made it abundantly clear that her relationships were hers to decide - he trusted her judgement.

Brakken stood still for a long moment, her mouth still half open, ready to say a multitude of things that had all evaporated in the surprise and confusion that followed Felicity's hasty retreat. The young girl blinked her eyes a handful of times and then turned to Dalla as her friend spoke.

"Um.. No, It's ok..." She answered, though her tone sounded more like a question as her mind was still searching for an answer to Felicity's behavior. "I'm sure we'll bump into her again later." She added, nodding slightly to herself before she let her eyes scan over the crowd. "Quite the turn out this year... I think everyone's mostly here--"

She didn't have the oppurtunity to finish that statement, however, as one of the Chaperone's hopped up on a crate of some kind and started instructing the children on how things would proceed. The 'delegates' were broken up into a handful of smaller groups and once organized, they set off for their lodging.

There was a short (for the YLP anyway...) meeting in the dinning hall of the hotel while they ate, explaining the rules, regulations, and tentative schedule of the upcoming session and then they were assigned room keys and instructed to retire for the rest of the evening in preperation for the beginning of the retreat the next morning...

***

Dalla had been kind enough to have AC help Brakken get her luggage up to her assigned room and she was now busying herself with unpacking. The rooms were probably not as luxurious as Dalla or Kristanna were used to, but they were plenty for Brakken. She set about stowing clothes in the provided dressor and then flopped back on her bed, having changed out of her dress and into a pair of comfy pants and a teeshirt, she stretched out atop the soft matress and yawned as she wondered where her roommate was..

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

Suddenly the door to Brakken's room slid open and Felicity strolled in and deposited her bags on the floor. She gave the room a quick once over then nodded in satisfaction. Finally she looked at Brakken. "You and I are roommates now," she announced.

"You?" Brakken asked in surprise, "but what happened to...,"

"I gave her some incentive to trade," Felicity interrupted. She lugged one bag over towards the other bed then came back for the other. On the way back to her bed she looked at Brakken with a critical eye. "Is that what you're planning on wearing?"

Brakken looked at her clothes then back at Felicity in confusion. "Change into something nicer, we're going out," Felicity explained and then she paused, "Unless you don't mind people looking at you like you're a pauper."

She dropped her second bag by the bed then walked back to the door and poked her head out. She checked the hallway in both directions then turned to look back at Brakken. "You coming or not? I don't have all day."

Brakken was still recovering from the shock of Felicity taking it into her own hands to become her roommate and then being told that she resembled a pauper. The young girl shook her head slightly to clear her mind and glanced around the dorm room in an attempt to gether her bearings. She noticed Felicity standing in the doorway looking at her expectantly and gave the girl a nervous shrug before turning around and heading to the dresser.

Brakken quickly changed into something more suitable to going out in public and then hurried over to the door near Felicity, her eyes wide with nervousness and excitement. "Where are we going?" She asked in a conspiratorial tone.

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

"Anywhere," Felicity replied, poking her head out into the hallway again. By now the chaperons had all gone back to their rooms and sneaking out of here was going to be a piece of cake. "Come on and stay behind me," Felicity whispered and she crept out into the hallway. The two girls quietly made their way down the hall towards the turbolift. They stopped at the corner and Felicity carefully peeked around it. One of the chaperons was walking towards them while talking to one of the hotel staff. Felicity quickly ducked back behind the corner again and looked back the way they had come.

There was a serving cart some short distance away and Felicity waved Brakken over to it. She lifted the lifted the cloth covering and crawled under the cart, making room for Brakken to crawl in behind her. The two girls waited patiently, holding their breath as they listened for the chaperon's footsteps. She and the hotel staffer drew nearer, quietly talking amongst themselves until at last they were past the cart and halfway down the hallway. Felicity poked her head out then gave Brakken the go ahead. They darted from under the cart and around the corner out of sight from the two adults. Then they made a bee line straight for the turbolift when one of the doors along the wall slid open.

"Felicity," the girl asked in surprise then looked at Brakken, "What are you two doing out here?"

Terrific, she better not be thinking about snitching on us, Felicity grumbled. "We're going out," she said flatly, "and you better not be thinking about telling a chaperon either. I was nice to you earlier but if you snitch on us...," she left the rest of her unspoken threat drifting in the air.

Dalla woke at the sound of voices outside her door. Sleepily, she got up and pushed the button that opened the door. She found herself looking at Felicity and Brakken, Felicity threatening another girl. In a hushed voice, Dalla looked at Brakken and asked:

Terrya sighed heavily and glanced at the door a few feet away from her bed. Ruell was sleeping on the other side of that door. In the morning, she'd come through there, wake her up, and rush her off to some sort of official thing full of political terms she didn't understand. Yay.

Her ears pricked slightly. There was sound outside the hallway door...voices? They sounded too high for security officers, so...

Terrya quietly stood up and glanced down. Yep, she was still decent--hadn't even changed her clothes, in fact--so she could check and see who it was without incurring anyone's wrath for being underdressed. Silently, the girl padded over to the hallway door, unlocked it, and opened it--to find herself facing Felicity and Brakken.

The girl's brow furrowed slightly. "Felicity--what are you two doing here?"

Felicity spun to face her and growled flatly, "We're going out, and you better not be thinking about telling a chaperon either. I was nice to you earlier, but if you snitch on us..."

Another door opened, and the other girl Terrya had seen earlier asked, "Where are you going?"

Terrya glanced over her shoulder. Hmm, she could stay here with Ruell, or she could attempt to go with Felicity and Brakken and see part of a planet she'd never been on before. What a hard decision. She faced Felicity again. "Uhh...wherever you're going...d'you mind if I tag along?"

Brakken looked between Terrya and Dalla once or twice, then offered Dalla a slight shrug of her slendor shoulders. She took a few steps away from Felicity and Terrya and towards Dalla before she spoke. "Um... We're going... out." She said, trying to make her voice sound a little more confident and a little less terrified. "Just 'cause... You uh, wanna come along?"

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

"Now just wait a min--," Felicity began but things were happening way too fast. Both girls had already said yes and were getting ready to leave. Felicity just stood there dumbfounded. "Fine," she said finally, "but you better keep up!"

Then she hurried down the hallway to the turbolift. Down in the lobby they had to dodge through a small crowd and around a potted plant to avoid a chaperon but once they got to the door they were home free. They wandered out into the city, their eyes gazing every which way--all except for Felicity. She was busy sulking, it was just supposed to be her and Brakken but now she found herself once again in the middle of a crowd. How did this even happen?

As they walked down the street the small group of girls attracted some curious glances but they were too excited and overwhelmed by the sights and sounds to notice. They made their way passed a street performer who was playing some sort of instrument Brakken had never even seen before, when she noticed that one person in their group seemed to not be enjoying herself quite like the others were.

Without mentioning anything to Terrya or Dalla, Brakken bounced over to Felicity and tossed an arm around the girls shoulders. "Hey!" She spoke, "Have you ever seen one of those things before?" She asked, referring to the instrument.

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis